CIA squabbling may have led to the arms-for-hostages scandal

A petty turf battle within the CIA turned a potential opening to Iran into a misbegotten arms-for-hostages deal that fell apart because of the squabbling and led to disclosure of the Iran-contra scandal. That is the contention of one of the factions that are still feuding hotly over the foreign policy disaster. As reports circulated about the imminent retirement of CIA Director William Casey, who is suffering from brain cancer, the agency itself is agonizing over its handling of the Iran initiative.

In this version of how the Iran affair unfolded, the CIA turf argument evolved into a dispute over whether...